More than 5,000 vehicles stolen in 2013

by Chiara Zambrano, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - More than 5,000 vehicles were stolen in 2013, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Thursday.

From January to December 2013, the PNP Highway Patrol Group recorded 5,438 thefts of either motorcycles or motor vehicles nationwide.

A total of 4,734, or 87.1%, are motorcycles. The remaining 704, or 12.9%, are motor vehicles.

Out of the 4,734 motorcycles stolen, 3,734 or 78.9% were taken while parked unattended.

A total of 349 motorcycles or 7.4% were taken at gunpoint, and 651 or 13.8% were taken using other modes, such as estafa (361 incidents), failure to return (167 incidents), bank financial fraud (69 incidents), "carnap me" (21 incidents), insurance fraud (18 incidents), and loaned to casino (15 incidents).

Out of the 704 motor vehicles stolen, 492 or 69% were stolen while parked unattended. A total of 107 others or 5.2% were forcibly taken, while 105 or 14.9% were taken using other modes such as the failure to return by a borrower (86 incidents), estafa (11 incidents), "carnap me" (3 incidents), bank financial fraud (3 incidents), insurance fraud (1 incident), and loaned to casino (1 incident).

From January to April 2014, 2,405 motorcycles were reported stolen, with most incidents in Region 3 (413 incidents), Region 4-A (378 incidents), and the National Capital Region (335 incidents).

A total of 257 motor vehicles were also reported stolen in the said period, 129 of which were taken from the National Capital Region, and 63 stolen from Region 4-A (Calabarzon).

Types of stolen motor vehicles

From January to April 2014, 61.8% or 176 of all stolen motor vehicles are sedans. A total of 77 units or 27% were SUVs, and 32 or 11.2% were trucks.

Most of the sedans stolen within this period have been Toyotas (77 units stolen) and next are Mitsubishis (54 units stolen). Most SUVs stolen are Toyotas as well (17 stolen).

From January to April 2014, the PNP Highway Patrol Group recovered 132 motor vehicles, mostly from NCR, Region 3, and Region 4-A. Sixty-three motorcycles have also been recovered, mostly in Region 3, Region 1, and Region 9.